Saturday, 7 February 2009

Crispy chocolate cake

I'm posting early again this week as am off on more travels for work tomorrow. I've been dodging the snow that's dogged the UK so far and hope my luck holds out and my flight is untroubled!

Now - a trip down memory lane. One of the first things we all probably baked as children were chocolate rice crispie or cornflake cakes. Apart from being easy to make, they taste good!

This recipe harks back to early memories of baking but adds some sophistication too. The chocolate rice crispies are used as a topping for a squidgy, indulgent chocolate cake. The whole concoction uses three bars of chocolate – do I have your attention yet?

My one disappointment with making this recipe is that you are meant to use spelt flour. Spelt is an ancient grain that isn’t wheat based, so people with wheat intolerance find they can often eat spelt with no ill effects. It also has a nutty taste. While the recipe (from a UK national Sunday paper) assured me that spelt flour was widely available I couldn’t find it in any health food store, supermarket or even Borough food market. If I lived way out in the sticks I would accept this, but these shops were all in central London! So I used self raising flour and it worked perfectly.

My other, voluntary, substitution was to use good quality milk chocolate instead of the recommended dark. I often find that dark chocolate can be too bitter and, given the low sugar content of this cake, opted for something a little lighter and sweeter. The cocoa content of the chocolate you use will decide how dark your cake will be – as I used milk chocolate mine is a lighter colour.

You will notice that the topping is falling off my cake – if I made the cake again I think I would double up the amount of chocolate for the topping; it didn’t seem enough to bind the rice crispies together.

For the topping:150g dark or milk chocolate (I used milk; next time I would use 300g of chocolate)40g unsalted butter1 tablespoon golden syrup50g rice crispies

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.- Grease or line a 20cm springform cake tin.- Start with the cake: break up the chocolate and melt it along with the butter in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. The water should not touch the bowl.- Once you have a glossy runny chocolate mix, remove the bowl from the heat and beat in the eggs one at a time. I used an electric hand whisk to make this easier.- Fold in the flour and sugar.- Pour – for it will be very runny – into the prepared cake tin and bake for approx 2o minutes or until the cake feels firm in the centre. As it is such a squidgy cake the skewer test won’t really work. Mine took 23 minutes.- Leave to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before adding the topping. I made the cake the day before I wanted it and left it untopped. The topping is best eaten on the day made as it starts to go soggy after that.- Make the topping: break up the chocolate and melt it along with the butter in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. The water should not touch the bowl. Stir until smooth then remove from the heat.- Stir in the golden syrup.- Stir in the rice crispies and ensure that all are covered with the chocolate mix.- Spoon over the top of the cake and spread. Press the crispies down at the edge of the cake to stop them sliding off.- Allow to cool.- If you’re using dark high cocoa content chocolate it’s an idea to serve this cake with cream. If you’re using milk chocolate it’s nicest on its own, maybe just some icing sugar dusted on the top.- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.- Eat.

I've started baking again (not sure why I ever stopped) and I was lucky enough to find your blog. You have become one of my baking inspirations!

I have some questions: What exactly is "mixed spice?" I'm a bit of a spice nut so I don't have any mixtures - I like to work from the basic spices. Perhaps it is what is sold as "pumpkin pie spice" here in the US?

I have come to realize that I don't have near enough cake pans and cookbooks (Commandment 6) so I have been working to increase my supply of both. Are there any recipe books that you consider "must haves?"

Made this on Tuesday to share with my bible study group, went down a treat, they have all asked for the recipe. I modified it slightly by spreading a thin layer of melted chocolate on the cake then just mixing the rest of the chocolate with rice crispies for the topping.

Don't worry - this isn't a cake that rises on cooking - you can see that from my photos. It's a rich, thick, densely textured cake rather than a light and airy sponge.If it tastes nice then you're doing nothing wrong!

This recipe may be over 5 years old, but I've only just found it and it's delicious! I used self-raising flour and soft brown sugar in the cake. 150g dark chocolate worked a treat on the Rice Krispie topping, I also added 40g of raisins to the Rice Krispie mixture and popped the whole cake in the fridge, which set the topping a treat. Thank you so much.

Read this great novel!

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About Me

So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

The purpose of my blog is simple – to spread the word that CAKE IS GOOD.Yes, it is calorific; that is why it tastes so nice.Yes, too much of it is bad for you; that’s what ‘too much’ means.Yes, we’re all told to eat healthily and we know that we should. But ask yourself this – and look very deeply into your soul before answering – when has a cup of tea and a carrot ever cheered you up? However, put that carrot into a cake and happiness will ensue. Quod erat demonstrandum – CAKE IS GOOD.

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I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
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